Drowning is the single most common cause of death of toddlers aged 1 to 4 years in Australia; about half of these deaths occur in residential swimming pools or spas. For every drowning, there are many more near-drownings. Of those children hospitalised for near-drowning, 5-20% will suffer some brain damage. Tragically, in 2002, 35 children drowned in swimming pools.
In most parts of Australia, it is now mandatory to provide a pool fence around the swimming pool. It is also mandatory to have a self-closing gate which is fitted with a childproof latch. However, these gates can be left open from a number of causes such as by accident, by being propped open, by being tied open, and sometimes the latch fails to properly close the gate. These gates have some form of spring mechanism to naturally close the gate. It is also possible for the spring mechanism to become worn thereby causing the gate to close but not latch, or to only partially close. A fairly common cause for malfunction of the gate is due to misalignment of the latch with the keeper. This can happen by improper assembly but also due to sagging of the hinges which can happen if the child swings on the gate door. If the swimming pool gate does not work properly, there is no barrier to a child passing into the swimming pool enclosure.
Although it is envisaged that the gate assembly will have an important use with swimming pool enclosures, the invention is not to be limited only to this use. For instance, the gate assembly can be used to prevent inadvertent or unauthorised entry into various restricted or dangerous areas such as roadways, dangerous goods areas, child care play areas and the like. It is also envisaged that the gate assembly can function not so much to prevent inadvertent entry into a restricted area but to prevent inadvertent exit from a restricted area. For instance, the gate assembly could be used in an aviary or other type of animal enclosure to allow people to enter and exit the animal enclosure with reduced likelihood of the animals able to escape. Therefore, there would be an advantage if it were possible to provide a gate assembly which did not rely on a single gate to provide entry or exit from a particular area, or which would provide a useful or commercial choice to the consumer. It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.